People call me a ‘villain’ as I take away my kids’ birthday money & sell their gifts on Facebook – but I have my reasons
A MUM-of-two has admitted she takes her kids’ birthday cash and even sells any gifts they get on Facebook Marketplace – but she insists she has a good reason for it all.
Janice Curnew, 40, says her kids will thank her for taking their money, as she sets them up for the future.
The teacher and her husband Dave, 43, from Cape Breton, NS, Canada put the cash into a savings account, which the kids can’t access, and claim the youngsters are “totally fine with it”.
But not everyone is so impressed with their money saving method and some even dubbed the parents “villains”.
Janice shared her tactics to TikTok (@janicecurnew ) and users have praised the method, earning the viral video over 1.4m views and 106,000 likes.
“We had to learn about finances on our own, and we’re just trying to make good decisions for our children,” Janice told What’sTheJam.
“While also teaching them that we are doing these things so they won’t be stuck like we were when they’re young adults!
“Whatever money comes in to our home, whether it’s a gift, an unexpected windfall, or money earned from selling their old toys or clothes, some of that gets put into their savings account and some goes into their spending account.
“They can’t access their savings accounts for withdrawals.”
The mum explained they taught the little ones that any money they do receive is their “income” so it’s best practice to save it a chunk of it.
Despite being strict on saving part of their kids’ money Janice and Dave give their daughters, Mariela aged eight and Lilliana, 12 , freedom to spend the remaining funds however they wish.
And they say it isn’t a strict, set amount each month.
“It’s not a set amount, because it depends on where the money comes from and how much it is.
“My daughter’s birthday was in February and $75 (£59) was put away into savings for her, which was about 15% of what she received as gifts.
“She sold some old toys on FB marketplace and earned $20 (£15)
“So $5(£3) went into her savings because it’s easier to deposit a $5 (£3) bill than $3, (£2) so that was 25% that was set aside.
There will be some people who either think we’re total villains who are lying to our kids and spending all their money on drugs
Janice Curnew
“It really depends.”
Janice said she will also encourage her little ones to be smart with their spending and will even help with alternatives if she thinks they’ll end up regretting their purchases.
“But, ultimately a lot of learning comes from impulse purchase regret too, so they can spend that money however they like.
“They’re totally fine with it, because all of their needs are taken care of by their parents, and honestly most of their wants are too!
“We never know what is going to happen tomorrow, so we feel that having a balance of planning for the future while also enjoying the present moment is key,” she said.
Despite some praise for the mum-of-two for penny pinching, Janice says the reaction has been mixed.
She said: “Unless you’re in the 1%, there is a lot of emotion tied to finances, so just like anything money related, the reaction has been polarising.
“There will be some people who either think we’re total villains who are lying to our kids and spending all their money on drugs.
“Or that we’re financial geniuses whose kids are going to be millionaires because some of their birthday money is getting saved.
“Neither is true, we’re just two parents doing the best we can with the information we’ve learned along the way.
“The reaction from the vast majority who have seen our TikTok seems to agree with that.
“I’d say most people see it for what it is – parents doing the best we can with what we have!”
How to start investing
BEFORE investing you need to be aware of the risks, as unlike cash, what you save can go both up and down.
This means you can be left with less than what you started with.
And if your investment performs poorly, you’re not protected for any loss by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) which covers cash up to £85,000 per financial institution.
Although if the firm you’ve invested with is regulated in the UK, you may still be able to use the FSCS to claim if the company itself fails.
There are of course ways to reduce the risk of investing – for example you could opt to invest in cheaper so-called “passive funds” that track the fortunes of various stock markets, such as the FTSE100 or FTSE All Share indices.
Investing in actively managed funds – that pool different types of investment together – is also less risky than just investing in individual companies, known as shares. This is because you’re spreading your risk across a range of companies or other types of investment, such as bonds or property.
Robo-investing – where a computer determines what you should invest in based on a questionnaire of your preferences – also comes with lower risk as it’s spreading your investments.
If you feel confident, you can start investing by setting up an account on an investment platform – a sort of supermarket of different investment products. And you can do all of this within a Stocks and Shares or Lifetime Isa wrapper. Do check the fees first – both for the platform and the individual investments themselves.
If you’re unsure, you should always seek professional advice – you can use comparison services Unbiased or VouchedFor to find a suitable financial adviser.
The comments reveal mostly praise for her forward thinking.
“I WISH my mom did this with me. I blew every dollar I ever made,” said one user.
Bre commented: “My mom did this and I had $21,000 for my first house by 23.”
Kitty quipped: “This is smart.”
“You’re teaching them budgeting, a valuable life skill. Just because they can spend it all now, they shouldn’t, they need to plan some for the future.” Laura praised.
Another impressed user noted: “That’s amazing.”
Janice added: “We are under no impression that we know everything.
“We do feel like this particular method is smart, but if anyone wants to teach us basic framework of larger scale investing we’re all ears.”